Skipper Ben Stokes said that he accepts the criticism for England`s approach in the opening Test match of the Ashes series against Australia, but calling the team arrogant is going too far, according to ESPNCricinfo.
In the series opener, the “Three Lions” suffered a loss of eight wickets at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Following the loss, the side faced severe criticism. Despite being in a strong position on day two, leading by 105 runs with nine wickets still in hand, they collapsed dramatically, losing 9 wickets for 99 runs due to poor shot selection.
Speaking about the criticism, the England skipper said, “Look, you can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want”.
“We didn`t have the Test match that we wanted to. We were great in passages of that game… but I think arrogant might be a little bit too far. But that`s okay. We`ll take the rough with the smooth. I`d rather words like `rubbish`, but `arrogant`, I`m not so sure about that,” he added.
In Australia`s second innings of the first Test match, swashbuckling batsman Travis Head played a glorious knock of 123 runs off just 83 deliveries, which was laced with 16 boundaries and four maximums.
Marnus Labuschagne stayed unbeaten on 51 runs. His knock included 49 balls, in which he smashed six boundaries and a maximum.
Australia`s lead pacer, Mitchell Starc, was named the “Player of the Match” for his heroics in the game. He returned with the figures if seven wickets for 58 runs in the first innings, and also claimed three wickets by conceding 55 runs in the second essay.
With this, the Aussies won the match and have taken a lead by 1-0 in the five-match series.
The second Test match of the Ashes series is scheduled to be played at The Gabba in Brisbane from December 4. During the match, Australia will continue to miss the services of skipper Pat Cummins due to injury. In the second Test match, it will be interesting to see if veteran opening batsman Usman Khawaja opens the innings for the side. In the previous match, the left-hander did not open the innings as he was struggling with back spasms.
(With ANI Inputs)
